Litigation Management

One of the best measures of the Firm's price competitiveness is our ability to deliver high-calibre legal services at a reasonable "per-case-cost", i.e., total per-case costs from inception to final disposition.  We would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that, in the final analysis, the average cost of handling a litigated claim affects the bottom line of an insurance of self-insurance program much more directly than hourly billing rates.

The Firm's partners have, for many years, implemented the following measures for their practice groups to control and monitor the cost of legal services:

Development of a litigation strategy at the inception of a case.  This avoids costly "wheel-spinning."

Use of an insurance/reinsurance database, so we can efficiently research the law of any American jurisdiction.

"Lean" staffing of cases.  One partner and one associate are assigned responsibility for the day-to-day management of each case.

Partnership and communication with the insured and insurer to keep all advised of case developments and solicit input.

Prompt exploitation of available substantive and procedural defenses.  This avoids unnecessary work on a case that can be resolved at an early stage.

Avoidance of "rote" discovery proceedings that do not materially advance the defense of an action.

Prompt exploration of settlement opportunities in appropriate cases.  Again, this avoids unnecessary, and costly, work on cases suitable for early disposition.

Use of a "brief bank."  This avoids costly legal research on recurrent legal issues.

Use of paralegals and other support staff to reduce the amount of attorney time spent on a matter.

Finally, the Firm's partners' long-standing reputation for aggressive representation produces intangible financial benefits for our clients.  The plaintiffs' bar knows that litigating a case against the Firm's partners is a difficult proposition.  This routinely translates into favorable dispositions for our clients.  Thus, in a very real sense, the quality of our services adds to our cost-effectiveness.